DW 09 - TOUGH!

Woken @ 5am by my 1 year old Tyler (nothing out of the ordinary there) to a classic autumn morning.
I had a goal to beat my 08 time of 5:20 and secretly was going for a sub 5. 08 was my first ever race so
I didn't have a good average to work with but I love a good challenge!

The first 50kms was as good as I remember and I snuck into half way just under 2.30. Dylan arrived
after a minute or so looking fresh and keeping his heart rate in check, I on the other hand was really
working it and wasn't looking forward to the upcoming climb past the temple. We rode together at
a tidy pace until Dylan took a spill on a tech rock section (luckily uphill) then not long after I
clipped a hidden rock at speed and went down hard! I dusted myself off with no major injury which was lucky
because there was a guy sitting 5 meters away waiting for assistance after he went down on the same
hidden rock.

Arrived at the bridge with a clear path which was my signal to RIDE it! then a grinding road ride to the 72km
stop. My bike sounded like a rocking chair and after a quick lube sounded like new again. The rest of the
race was a extremely hard and I had to dig deep just to get through. On the finish line I heard the announcer
say 5.13 (it might have been my mental state) but I later found my actual time was 5.24, 4 minutes shy of
my 08 time.... I must admit I was a little disappointed getting a slower time but really enjoyed the
whole weekend. Having my little boy and my lady at the finish was the highlight!

Thanks to Dylan for the 5 star accom in St Albans... we were in between the pub and the Church... epic location!
Well done to Dylan for smashing over an hour off last year and everyone else for what looks like a year of
records for the Mob.

Critty.